Chronological summary of several events based on the ships logbooks,
the personal journal of Acting Lieutenant Commander Joshua D. Warren, Master
of the Harvest Moon, Admiral John A. Dahlgren's journals and material found
in the sources listed in the HARVEST MOON BIBLIOGRAPHY.

11/22/62
Launched in Portland, ME. Hull by Joseph W. Dyer, 117 Commercial St., home: 33 High St. . Owner Lang, Delano & Spear of Boston .
Engine provided by Portland Company. The engine was salvaged from a ship lost in the China waters and was shipped to Halifax. The
Portland Co. rebuilt it and installed it as their engine #4 . The Portland Co. was incorporated in 1846. Officers were Joseph C. Noyes,
treas., John Sparrows, supt., H.J. Little, pres. In 1862 the Portland Co. paid $3008 in town taxes. Joseph Dyer paid $1025. Joseph W.
Dyer et al also owned "Kate Dyer" built in 1855, 1278 tons. HM Served Kenebec River towns, Portland and Boston.

03/23/63
Capt. William R. Roix ran between Bangor and Portland until July 17, 1863 . SCOTIA replaced HM on the Maine run. After the war
Spear Lang & Delano bought DANIEL WEBSTER and EASTERN CITY from the govt. and in 1867 ran them in opposition to the
Kennebec Steamship Co. from Boston to the Kennebec River. A rate war resulted and after two seasons the opposition petered out
and both boats went to Canada
11/16/63
Bought by the U.S.N. from Charles Spear for $99,300 in Boston by Commodore John B. Montgomery, Commandent of the Boston
Naval Yard from June 1862 to December 1863.

2/01/64
Orders to Lt. J.D. Warren to proceed from Boston to Charleston to join SABS.

02/12/64
Commissioned at the Boston Navy yard.

02/28/64
At :30 Admirals staff, 3 quartermasters and 1 marine left for the New IRONSIDES. At 2:30am left light ship off Charleston and put off
pilot. 6:30 saw brig rigged Str. French colors. Man of war. Spoke schooner J. Day of Providence bound for Hilton Head with horses. He
reported having only 1 days rations. Sent him a bbl of pork 7 one of bread. After boarding him found he had provisions for a month.
Brought back our provisions. Passed a number of articles appearing to have belonged to a man of war. Set forestay sail, Spencer and
foresail.
02/29/64
At 10:45 am passed Hatteras. Slowed to 8 then 7 revolutions.

03/01/64
5:30am sent up 5 rockets. Sounding every 1/2 hour. Received pilot at 9:30. Cape Henry light 3mi. Passed Smith Point Light ship. Spoke
str. United States. At 7pm anchored off Point of Pines. Went to quarters, loaded battery armed the watch.
03/02/64
At 5am set "jack" for pilot. Weighed anchor at 5:30 fired blank in stb. howitzer for pilot. proceeded up the river without pilot Admiral in
charge. passed Black Stone Isl. light at 7:50. Struck ground several times. 5pm moored at Washington Navy Yard. JAD went ashore.
Admiral acted as Pilot and run the ship on a mudbank. Got him off to Washington (Page 220). Received news Richmond was taken.

03/03/64
Moored at Wash navy yard.
03/04/64
Sent Admirals barge and Capt's. gig to be painted. 7 bargemen and 2 marines went ashore on liberty. James Mc Cue returned
intoxicated and commenced breaking in 5 panels around the boiler. Confined in double irons.
03/06/64
Received stores on board (see logbook for listing).
03/07/64
Vice President Hamlin, his secretary and ladies visited and took tea.

03/16/64
Proceeding up Chesapeake Pilot in charge. Weather pleasant, fresh breeze. At 4:15am saw a schooner. standing southeastward. pilots
order to put her helm hard port. Schooner kept away across our bow. struck her on the starboard quarter. Captain & Exec. officer called
immediately also all hands. the ships bow was stove in making much water. Repaired it by sails in the forepeak. 6am 2 inches of water
above keelson. 8am ship dry. All running lights burning. Passed point lookout 9:15, at 4 off Matthais Point . All pumps going
constantly to keep ship free. Passed Fort Washington and at 10:45 anchored. Stopped engine and ran donkey pump.
03/17/64
Moved ship to Navy Yard wharf. Admiral left. Pumps going continuously. Workmen brought fire engine and hose and began pumping
ship. Stopped hand pumps. Began stripping foremast. received a steam pump on board. Yardmen taking out mast, anchors and chain.
Put ashore pivot gun.
03/18/64
At the dock , donkey pump in constant use. Send powder, ammunition and loaded shot ashore. Started steam pump. Joseph Bethel
and John Love sent to hospital.

03/19/64
At daybreak hauled into dock to go on ways for repair. The rims of the paddle wheels bringing up on the sides of the dock, could not
get in. Dock workers shipping paddle buckets and rims. Admirals pennant moved to USS Baltimore. Ship on ways at 9:20 pm.
03/20/64
Ship on ways. John Doyle (bargeman) was down in the main hold and took a hammock lashing without orders and when being spoken
to by the Capt. was surly and was ordered confined in double irons. Mustered all hands at 10am and read new Regulations for uniform
of the Navy. marines and Bargemen sent to USS Baltimore. Released John Doyle. George Andrews (Sea), John Partridge (OS),
W.H.Morse(OS), Christian Davis (OS), John Duffy(Lds), John Roper(Lds) also sent to Baltimore.
03/21/64
JAD left Washington for Fortress Monroe on Baltimore. Harvest Moon at dock.
03/24/64
JAD returned flag to Harvest Moon. Wrote letter to Chief of Bureau of equipment and recruiting.
03/25/64
Received sailmakers & carpenters stores.
03/26/64
Thomas Tealy, carpenters mate confined for smuggling liquor thru the gate. Chief Selegates from Chippewa tribe visited. He said
Harvest Moon was a very fine canoe with much big guns and invited me to visit his wigwam.

02/26/65
Commences and to 4am
Underway bound for Georgetown. At 1am steered NE. At 2:30 NE by N. then NNE. At 3:30 got into shoal water. Stood off shore at 4am
steered NE. S.N. Bates
from 4 to 8am
At 5 hauled off shore steaming very slow. At 6am hauled on shore to make land. At 7 made Georgetown light house bearing West
distance 4 miles. at 7:40 layed to and fired gun for pilot. D.B. Arey
from 8 to meridian
At 9am got underway. US Str. Wanda communicated, Pilot J. Wm. Undergrove came onboard from her and we proceeded in over the
bar. At 9:40am passed light house proceeded up the river for Georgetown. At 11:50 am came to anchor in Georgetown harbor. 3 fths,
water veered to 15 fths chain. L.A. Cornthwait
from meridian to 4pm
At anchor off Georgetown. Tug Catalpa came alongside. delivered 2 tons coal to her. Capt. went ashore. Adm. & Staff went ashore.
A.N. Bates
from 4 to 6pm
At 5:40 Adm. & Staff returned on board. At 6 swung to flood tide. At 6:15 got underway and steamed down the river a short distance
and came to anchor in 3 fths, water 25 fths chain. D. B. Arey
from 6 to 8pm
At anchor, 25 fths. chain fires banked. L.A. Cornthwait
from 8 to midnight
At anchor 25 fths chain ready for slipping. Saw lights flashed at various points along the river. At 11pm fired the pivot gun at one of
the lights. A.N. Bates
2/27/65
Monday, commences and till 4am
At 1am saw a boat drifting down the river, hailed her got no answer, fired several musket shots at her got no reply lowered a boat .
Sent in pursuit of her. Could not find her. supposed to be an empty boat adrift. D. B. Arey
from 4 to 8am
At anchor fires banked, thick fogy weather. L.A. Cornthwait
from 8am to meridian
At 9am Lieut. O. Kane and Pilot Uptegrove left the ship in dory (Hazy). At 11:30 hove short. At 11:40 got under way. Henry Quick (CA)
Henry Smith (CM) was left on shore. A.N. Bates
from meridian to 4pm
At 12 got underway to go down the river. At 12:15 came to anchor veered to 25 fths chain. at 1:30 1st cutter in charge of A.N. Bates left
the ship. At 2:15 Capt. Mathews left the ship with an armed crew. At 2:15pm US Str. Mingo got underway, came out from Georgetown
and proceeded up the Wanog. At 3:30pm Henry Quick & Henry Smith returned on board. Confined them in double irons for leaving
the ship without permission. D.B. Arey
from 4 to 6pm
Capt. Mathews returned with gig. Enlisted 17 Negros as landsmen. L.A. Cornthwait
from 6 to midnight
At 6:30 got underway up the river. Ran onto a wreck off the city. At 11:30 got her off and anchored in 5 fths water veered out 20 faths
water (sic)
2/28/65
Tuesday, commences and till 4am
Thick gloomy weather heavy rain squalls. L.A. Cornthwait
from 4 to 8am
At 6:30am swung to flood tide. Thick fog with frequent showers and rain. . Arey
from 8 to meridian
released Henry Smith (CM) from confinement. At 11:30 am swung to ebb tide. delivered 6100 pounds of coal to US Str. Sweet Briar.
Enlisted 11 contrabands as landsmen. L.A. Cornthwait
from meridian to 4pm
At 12 got underway and proceeded down the river, at :30 anchored near the USS Pawnee. Capt. Stellwagon came on board. Got
underway and proceeded down the river. At 1:30 came to anchor off Battery White. At 2:30 Admiral and staff went on shore. at 3:30
they returned on board. D.B. Arey
from 4 to 6pm
Sent on shore to Battery White 6 bbls. bread, 1 Bll beef, 3 boxes roast beef, 1 Bushel beans, 1/2 bushel rice, quantity of coffee, 1Bll
Pork, 200 rounds muskett cartridges, 500 muskett caps. L.A. Cornthwait
from 6 to 8pm
At anchor off battery White. Tug Clover came down river and anchored near us. sent boat on board with pilot Uptegrove on board.
D.B. Arey
from 8 to midnight
At 11:45 heard the report of a muskett in Battery White. L.A. Cornthwait

03/01/65
Wednesday, Commences & till 4am
At 1am saw a light in the direction of Battery White. Thick foggy weather.
D.B. Arey
From 4 to 8am
At 6:30 am a boat from Pawnee came down the river and landed at Battery White. At 7am Pawnee fired a gun. At 7:15 am got underway
& proceeded down the river through Marsh channel Tug Clover in company. At 7:45am when about 3 miles from Battery White we ran
on to a torpedo. It blowed a hole through the starboard quarter tearing away the main deck over it which caused this ship to sink in 5
minutes in (2 1/2)two & half fathoms water. Tug Clover immediately came to our assistance.
The Admiral & Staff went on board Clover the ships officers remaining on board to save everything possible. Sent gig in charge of
Act. Ensign D.B. Arey to US Str. Pawnee for assistance. sent three (3) boats up the river to drag for torpedoes. John Hazzard Ward
Room Steward missing supposed to be drowned he being in the hold at the time of the explosion.
A.N. Bates
from 8am to midnight
Ship sunk in Swash channel Winyah Bay, 8 miles SE by E from Battery White in (2 1/2) two & half fathoms water. At 9am Tug Clover
cast off and proceeded down the river the officers and crew remaining by the ship to save the furniture etc. Boats returned without
finding the torpedoes. Tug Sweet Brier came alongside. All the ? Officers & men went on board for passage to US Str. Pawnee for
Quarters for the night. Pawnee sent boat with armed crew to this ship for the night. L.A. Cornthwait

Adm Dahlgren Diary. Wednesday. A dull looking morning, with the usual leaden-colored NE. sky. A little after seven the Harvest
Moon was under way to go down the harbor, and then for Charleston. I had dressed as usual, and just concluded. Simms had laid the
table, and I was pacing about the cabin waiting for breakfast, occasionally taking a squint with the glass at objects along the shore.
Suddenly, without warning, came a crashing sound, a heavy shock, the partition between the cabin and wardroom was shattered and
driven in towards me, while all loose articles in the cabin flew in different directions. Then came the hurried tramp of men's feet, and a
voice of some one in the water was heard shrieking, as if badly hurt. My first notion was that the boilers had burst; then the smell of
burnt gunpowder suggested that the magazine had exploded. I put on a pea coat and cap and sallied forth. Frightened men were
struggling to lower the boats. I got by them with difficulty. They heard nothing; saw nothing. Passing from the gangway to the upper
deck ladder, the open space was strewed with fragments of partitions.
My foot went into some glass. the Fleet Captain was rushing down, and storming about. I ascended the ladder to get out on the upper
deck to have a full view of things. A torpedo had been struck by poor old "Harvest Moon" and she was sinking. The water was
coming in rapidly through a great gap in the bottom. The main deck had also been blown through. There was no help for it, so we
prepared to leave the vessel. The tug that was following astern waited to be called alongside, and we transferred the baggage to her
with much expedition; for in order to cross the bar in the only vessel at hand, the "Nipsic", full tide was needed, and we had not a
moment to lose, if I was to get out that day on the way to Charleston. And in this way I take leave of the "Harvest Moon"! How thickly
events crowd on one.
03/02/65
Thursday, Commences from 6am to 6pm
Tug Sweet Brier with officers and crew of this ship came alongside and came on board and relieved the US Str. Pawnee's picket boat
who had charge during the night. All hands employed in unriging ship unbinding sails . Engineers and Firemen employed in removing
the machinery from the ship. Several men employed in dragging ships hold for the body of John Hazzard (WS) was killed by the
explosion. At 10:30am succeeded in finding his body. At 6pm Tug Sweet Brier came alongside and took on board all the sails rigging
and everything saved during the day also the body of John Hazzard. US Str. Pawnee sent boat with armed crew to guard the ship
during the night. At 6 tug cast off with officers & crew of H. Moon on board to go to Pawnee for quarters for the night. .B. Arey
03/03/65
Friday, Commences from 6am to midnight
Officers & crew of Harvest Moon returned on board and relieved the Picket boat. Engineers and firemen employed in removing
machinery. The remainder of crew fishing in ships hold for rigging & stores. saved a quantity of stores and rigging in a damage
condition. At 2:30 PM Tug Oleander went alongside Pawnee took on board part of furniture saved from this ship and proceeded to
Port Royal with it. At 4:30pm Tug Sweet Brier came along & took on board all that was saved during the day. At 6 left an officer and 20
men on board with arms to protect the ship during the night. The remainder of officers and crew went on board Tug. Tug cast off, went
alongside Pawnee. At 7 set the watch & stationed lookouts. Act Ensign D.B. Arey took the body of John Hazzard on shore & gave it a
respectiable (sic.) burial. L.A. Cornthwait
03/08/65
Removed walking beam from gallows head. (6)
03/09/65
Removed beef & pork from hold(6)
03/10/65
All crew but night watch and all officers but Cornthwait & Arey leave on Sweet Brier.(6).
03/11/65
Todd ordered to Pawnee, Arey detached to Mary Stanford.(6)
03/13/65
Posted lookouts on Forecastle and Hurricane deck.
03/21/65
Removed anchors, chains and hawsers. (6)
03/22/65
Moved smokestack to tug Catalpa. (6)
03/23/65
Loosened bolts around cylinder. (6)
03/24/65
Disconnected cylinder from bedplate and wheels from shaft. (6)
03/25/65
Hoisted cylinder from bedplate. (6)
03/31/65
Worked on wheels. (6)
04/07/65
Finished stripping shaft, got ready to hoist out.
04/14/65
Schooner Margaret K. Sampson took machinery and starboard shaft. (6)
04/15/65
Removed shafts and cranks. (6)
04/21/65
Abandoned wreck. Acting Ensign L.A. Cornthwait.

Thus the Harvest Moon has rested for almost a century, with her uppermost deck under three to six feet of mud, and her stack thrust
from the shallow but concealing waters of Winyah Bay. Many people have passed and pointed her out during those one hundred
years but only recently has this page from the old Navy been turned for re-examination.
In the fall of 1963, a field unit from the New England Naval and Maritime Museum , Newport, Rhode Island , visited the Harvest Moon
and began an investigation that has aroused curiosity - but not capital - throughout South Carolina. The findings of the Newport
group have been optimistic. Initial studies indicate that the Harvest Moon lies extraordinarily well preserved on the bottom of Winyah
Bay. A group of Georgetown residents have formed the Southern Explorations Association, which has been chartered by the state,
and whose primary mission is the salvaging and restoration of the old gunboat as a tourist attraction. Talk of raising and refurbishing
Admiral Dahlgren's blockade flagship has brought her to the attention of present -day sailors, whose interest in missiles and nuclear
warships long ago displaced any reminders of the Harvest Moon.
The final release of the wooden warship came on 18 February 1964, when Assistant Secretary of the Navy Kenneth E. BeLieu signed
the formal abandonment document. Thus, after 99 years on the bottom of the Bay, the Harvest Moon left the service of the U.S. Navy
and became available for private salvage. To date, she remains unclaimed.
Abandonment of the gunboat by the Navy was followed closely by abandonment of plans by the Georgetown group to salvage her,
due to lack of financial backing. (The salvage and restoration of another Civil War torpedo - destroyed gunboat, Cairo, from
Mississippi's Yazoo River was estimated to cost from three to five hundred thousand dollars.)
Whether the Harvest Moon will rise again to serve the South is not known, but one thing is certain: As a representative of the South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she belongs to an era that saw the U.S. Navy begin an ascension which has placed this nation at the
pinnacle of sea power. The Harvest Moon remains a tribute to that era.